Damascus says Iran’s presence in Syria is legitimate

The Syrian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday its rejection of the final communique issued after Mecca-hosted summit on Iran’s interference in Syria’s internal affairs.

“We reject what is stated in the final statement of the Mecca summit on the Iranian intervention in Syrian affairs,” the official SANA news agency quoted a foreign source as saying.

The source added, “The Iranian presence in Syria is legitimate and has contributed to the fight against terrorism backed by some of the participants in the summit.”

Iraq objected to the final communique of the Arab Emergency summit held in Mecca on Thursday, which denounced “Iran’s interference” in the affairs of other countries, while Iraqi President Barham Saleh warned during the summit that there would be a full-scale war in the region as the crisis continued with Iran.